Dragging Through the Ages: The History of Drag

I'm not a betting woman, but I suspect the odds would have been pretty high that not one, but two, of Sarasota's theatres would present shows about drag queens this season. (I know that might sound wrong, but "high" odds means unlikely. Think about the odds being 80-1 that Rich Strike would win the Kentucky Derby. But I digress.)  

Urbanite Theatre opened its season with "At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen" by Terry Guest. The show is a flashback to the life of a drag queen who recently died from complications due to AIDS. There were somber moments of course, as Courtney/Anthony comes to terms with his diagnosis and recalls his complicated life. But the show was a celebration of life as well, with its over-the-top costumes and performances. It was a night of theatre no patron will ever forget. (Click here for a video with interviews with the director and actors and, yes, some of the fabulous costumes.) 

Florida Studio Theatre just closed its winter season with "The Legend of Georgia McBride" by Matthew Lopez. The play tells the story of an Elvis impersonator who reluctantly -- and hilariously -- pivots to drag when his own show fails to find an audience. It's a story of a straight white man embracing his inner queen in a big way. Again, the costumes and performances were fabulous. And did I mention the play was set in my hometown of Panama City (well, PC Beach)? The show was written by Matthew Lopez, who grew up in Panama City, and drew upon his experiences sneaking into drag shows at The Fiesta, the only gay bar in town for 40 years. Cue the music for "It's a Small World." 

This is all background for a terrific panel discussion hosted by FST entitled "Dragging Through the Ages: The History of Drag." Director Kate Alexander was joined by Kraig Swartz, who played Miss Tracy Mills in "Georgia McBride," and Billyd Hart, choreographer and understudy for three roles in the show. Also on stage were certified sex therapist Dr. Mary Davenport and Ken Shelin, businessman turned gay rights advocate. 

Hart, Shelin and Swartz 

The conversation started with a simple comment that all clothing is a costume. It's how you present yourself to the world. But when clothing choices become "gender transgressive," people's eyebrows might start to rise.  In fact, transvestism -- or cross-dressing -- is still included in the Merck manual chronicling mental disorders (although it appears to only be applicable when the practice is for sexual satisfaction and substantially disrupts the individual's ability to function). 

Flip Wilson as Geraldine

Americans have been watching female impersonators from the comfort of their homes for decades as performers like Flip Wilson, Jonathan Winters and Milton Berle assumed the personas of women on national TV.  Some male comedians adopted female persons to mock women. Wilson has said he did so in order to "relate to women without putting them down" and that he wanted Geraldine to be a heroine. (For a peek at Geraldine in action, click here.)  

But doing drag is something different than being an impersonator. Yes, in a typical drag performance a man adopts the persona of a woman to entertain an audience. But drag also allows the performers to express themselves in a way they might not be able to in their day to day lives. It's an emotional outlet. Perhaps this is why drag isn't intended to fool audiences. (Having said that, drag queens can be quite persuasive, particularly to the uninitiated. One audience member at the talk confessed she didn't realize that Miss Tracy Mills was being played by a man until two-thirds of the way through "Georgia McBride." Swartz got a good laugh out of that comment.) 

Live drag has historically been performed in gay bars. These venues were safe spaces where straight people didn't venture and performers could express themselves without fear of mockery or reprisal. Today, of course, drag has become mainstream, with drag queen bingo and 14 seasons of "Rupaul's Drag Race" on network television. (Click here to read about my own drag queen bingo adventure.) Locally, Matthew McGee has made a cottage industry of his own drag performances at freeFall Theatre in St. Pete and its environs. Even institutions you might expect to be pretty conservative have jumped on the bandwagon. Ringling Museum hosted a walk and talk back in 2018 with Sarasota's own Beneva Fruitville. It was not the most educational walk and talk I've been on there, but it was original. 

The Herald Tribune's Jay Handelman was in the audience at FST and asked an excellent -- if unanswerable -- question. If the purpose of drag is to subvert gender norms, how does drag evolve in a time when those norms are being diluted? Many people today consider themselves nonbinary; i.e., neither male nor female. Panelist Billyd Hart is one such person and shared that their outfit for opening night of "Georgia McBride" featured a corset. Billyd wasn't dressed in drag, but in clothing that expressed their identity at that moment. How liberating that must feel. 

Thanks to FST for providing a forum for this discussion and to the panelists for sharing their lives and experiences. And here's to the future of drag, whatever it might be.